One Small Step, One Giant Leap
by mwendyr
Summary: It may seem like they were taking a small step but it felt like they were taking a giant leap. Sequel to Baby Steps. C2 up
1. Chapter 1

_Italic sentences represent thoughts _

Contains minor spoilers for S5 Slither and Dollhouse. This is a sequel to Baby Steps.

Summary: It may seem like a small step but if felt like they were taking a giant leap. Not necessarily for mankind.

This is pure fluff.

I don't own CI and I earn little-to-no money so please don't sue.

**One Small Step, One Giant Leap**

There were far too many to choose from. Since when had she bought all of those? She can't even remember deciding to go into the shops where she must have gone to buy them.

Alex Eames' wardrobe was being turned upside down by herself to find something suitable to wear. _How the hell do you dress up? _She suddenly remembers going on some spur-of-the-moment shopping with her sister whilst she was pregnant and it hits her why she can't remember buying them.

She hadn't.

She had, at that point, been heavily pregnant with her nephew and her sister was spoiling her rotten because of it. Apparently, pregnant women should be waited on hand and foot; her sister had told her as much when she complained about the shopping trip in the first place. It wasn't enough one was doing it, both her sisters had chosen to go with her, telling Alex that she needed to have some clothes that would help to convince to lose the weight she was sure to gain from the experience. Alex groaned at the memory, she'd absolutely hated the attention being pregnant had brought to her. The way her parents dotted over her, making her spend the last few weeks at their home or the way her brothers all thought she was some kind of Goddess for offering up her body for nine months without reaping the rewards.

Actually, that just wasn't true for her. There were plenty of rewards, she had a great nephew and she loved him. Best of all, she didn't have to do the unpleasant parenting, she just got to be the loving Aunt.

Snapping out of her reverie, she forced herself to choose one, any before he turned up and she had to pretend that she hadn't be trying to choose at all. Sighing, she sat on her bed and looked at them, all of them placed around the room, either on the hooks or just resting on a chair, waiting to be chosen. She was just waiting for them to start begging her to be worn. Shaking her head she tries to remove the mental image that was pushing it's way to the front of her mind. _That _was not what she wanted to see.

_Think, Alex, think. Be... spontaneous _The best way to make a decision. She just stood up and grabbed the nearest one to her, rushing off to the bathroom to change into it before she could change her mind.

When she emerged from the bathroom she was pleased with the results, she definitely looked the part but was she? Alex had never been like this before and she mentally kicking herself for being so stupid about the whole thing. _Since when do I act girly? _Chastising herself, giving herself a mental shake. She smoothed over the fabric on her stomach, feeling the inpurities on herself as well as the dress. _Great, the_ _bumps of muscles and possibly fat _she thought to herself grimly. Of course, her stomach hadn't been as flat as it was before she was pregnant and she somehow doubted it ever will.

Maybe there was time to change into something else?

A doorbell ringing made her visibly jump and she looked at the door with suspicion. She glanced at her watch and noticed that he was early. _He's not meant to be early. Doesn't that break some kind of rule? _She slowly walked over to the door and had a quick look through the peephole, using her hands against the door as support as she did so.

Yep, it was him.

Allowing herself a smile, she opened the door and couldn't contain the grin when she took in his attire. He was dressed impeccably smart, and was trying not to smile himself. She hadn't opened the door fully and was using the door to shield her own clothes, and thankful she was doing it too. "May I come in?" Mike asked, wondering if she really was going to let her in. He wanted to see what she was wearing, since he'd specifically asked for her to 'dress up'.

She remained behind the door and allowed him entrance into her home. Closing the door he finally got to see her and he was stopped in his tracks. Alex was wearing a midnight-blue, above-the-knee length cocktail dress that was tightfitting in all the right places. Her jewellery was simple, a silver necklace and silver watch that seemed to match although it was not intentional. Her blue heel sandal shoes were making her tall enough to at least compete with the height. "Okay, so is this 'up' enough?" She asked, already knowing the answer because Mike was stood there doing a perfect impression of a fish. She really wanted to grab his chin and push it back up so his lips weren't parted anymore.

Mike couldn't help but eye her up and down, taking it all in. "Hmmmm." he regarded her thoughtfully, seriously considering the question. "I'm not sure..." she raised her eyebrow at him, not expecting him to say that. "I think it's too 'up'." Mike grinned. He eyed her one more time before finally meeting her eyes, to see them laughing at him.

"Oh, well..." she looked in the direction of her room. "I could always go and change..." she started to turn and he placed her hand on his arm and she smiled at him. She appreciated his stab at humor and she just had to return the favour.

"No, I do like it. You look..." he eyed her one more time before finally adding, "Beautiful."

She smiled at him warmly, "So do you."

He looked down at his clothes and looked back at her with a questioning raised eyebrow, "This is the kind of stuff I could wear for work."

"Nah, those are different from this one." _True, no need to deny that, it's cleaner! _he thought to himself but figured he was better off keeping that one to himself. She kissed him on the cheek and rushed off to get her bag and coat from her room. When she returned he smiled at her and simply opened up the door for her and waited for her to leave before following him. He'd made a promise to himself that if he was going to do this, then he was going to do this right.

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"I don't see why I have to wear a blindfold." she complained, as she pulled his hands away from her face, as he had tried once again to unsuccessfully put the scarf around her eyes. They were sat in his car, still outside of her house since she refused to be surprised.

"You not seeing is precisely the point, Alex." He reminded her with a grin.

"Seriously? Come on, you've been keeping it a secret all week. I think I can know, now that we're actually going there." She pointed in whatever direction she figured they'd be going in but when she turned to Mike he was shaking his head at her.

"I want this to be surprise - you're wearing the blindfold." He told her, using index finger to point, trying to be stern and failing when he noticed the innocent face she was trying to pull on him. "Being sweet faced doesn't work on me."

She grabbed the scarf out of his hands, "Oh, well, it was worth a try." When he was satisfied she couldn't see he pulled off from their parking position. It was silent in the car for a quite a few minutes, classical music playing in the background whilst he was driving but when he turned his head to see how she was doing, he noticed that she seemed to be concentrating. _That can't be on the music _he mused.

"I can see what you're doing. Don't bother because I've been taking the scenic route." He told her with a chuckle. Defeated, she slumped back into the seat and sighed. He smiled at her determination to find out just where they were going. Once a cop, always a cop. Alex hated surprises and she preferred to drive so right now she was annoyed. She hoped that where they were going was good for Mike's sake.

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Thankfully the surprise had turned out to be better than good. When they reached the inside of the building, Alex had finally been allowed to take the blindfold off. When she could open her eyes without being blinded she was so stunned she couldn't speak. She slowly turned to Mike, who looked pleased with himself - clearly she was having the desired reaction. "Mike? This... is..." she wanted to say it must have cost him too much or they're going to look out of place but she knew that both points he'd probably already considered since he'd clearlry planned this with alot of thought. She didn't want to hurt his feelings with her doubts so she smiled at him. "This is amazing." she spoke breathlessly, and it truly was amazing. He had outdone himself, there was no way he was ever going to beat this.

The restaurant that they'd entered was clearly of a high standard. The cream table clothes were punctuated effectively with the forest green napkins that were holding utensils. The room had a 'candlelight' feel to it with the soft lights and the flickering of lanterns, with paper flames being blown by a fan to create the effect of a medieval torch. But not those cheap ones, these actually looked real and Alex couldn't be sure if they were or not. The walls on the right side of the room decorated in a deep red and the walls on the left side of the room decorated in a deep green. She felt like she'd enterted some foreign place and the atmosphere seemed to light but romantic.

A young waiter led them to a table that was semi-private and away from most of the other guests. There were no windows in the room just to help create the illusion of privacy. They sat down and Alex just smiled at him, refusing to say or do anything before he finally caved in with wanting to know what she was smiling so enthusiastically about. "What?" he said, keeping his voice low.

"You." she replied, still smiling. "You amaze me. I -" she paused whilst looking around the room, "I never saw this coming and I tried to guess where we were going and this was not on the list."

"Well don't believe everything they say, I'm actually a nice guy." He joked, and she just shook her head, she was still in awe about it. "I hope this means that you like it."

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Her enthusiasm was contagious to say the least, he began grinning like the cat who got the cream. He leaned forward on the table. They weren't sitting opposite each other, they were sitting almost next to each other, although she was sitting at the side of the table to his left.

Coming close to her he almost whispered, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop. "I wanted to show you that I'm being serious." she looked at him as he spoke, "That I'm not looking for something short or some kind of passionate affair..." She put a hand to his face and she smiled.

"I get it. It's okay." She took the hand away from his face when the waiter returned, pouring them each a glass of water and handing them both a menu. They thank him and he disappeared to wait on the needs to someone else.

Mike took a sip of water and looked at her, "So, how are you and Goren doing?" he seemed to be genuinely concerned and Alex smiled at him for showing it. Considering that the two (Goren and Eames) had almost come to complete blows in the middle of the squad room a week earlier, she had been surprised that they'd managed to deal with it effectively and professionally.

"We're doing okay now, we're listening to each other again, which is a good thing." She paused, and waited for him to put his glass down, once he did she continued, "We found a head in a fridge this morning." Mike looked at her to see her face was serious, except for the smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Mike was thankful she'd allowed him the chance to put his glass down and swollow the swig of water he'd taken because he was pretty sure he would've sprayed it everywhere. Nothing could prepare you for the way Alex surprised you with her direct approach. "Well, gee, it seems you guys get all the fun." he retorted and Alex grinned at him in response.

"You don't have fun?" asked Alex, leaning forward as well.

"Oh sure, seperating sisters is always my idea of fun." Referring to the case they he and Barek had recently closed.

"Well, in that case, you should avoid me and my sisters when we get into one of our fights. Because we literally blow." Alex was laughing at Mike's amused expression. "It can get ugly." she grinned and picked up one of the menu's the waiter had left.

"You have those often?" Alex looked at him to see that his facial expression was showing that he couldn't decide how to take her comment.

"No. But usually it's only my Dad that can seperate us." She chuckled at the memory and at him. He laughed, realising that that was probably true. Women, especially related women such as sisters, had a habit of arguing more frequently and it would usually end up in some kind of fight. He'd recently learnt that everything was fought over with sisters, including babies.

"So is it hair pulling stuff? Nail scratching? Biting?" he asked, also picking up his menu but not really reading it.

She put hers down and looked at him with a curious, playful smile. "Why do you want to know?"

Grinning, "I just need to know if I've got to avoid meeting your sisters." Alex laughed at him.

"I promise, if we have a real fight, I will tell you just before hand so you can duck out of the room." She replied, neither realising just what Mike had been suggesting. She was about to look at the menu again when she decided to voice something that's been on her mind since they'd walked into the building and her blindfold had been removed. "Mike?" he looked up from his menu, "Are you sure you can afford this... ? I mean..."

Mike put his hand gently on her arm, "I can." wanting to put her mind at ease, "It's okay. I saved up, you can pick whatever you want." She leaned into him and kissed him gently on his cheek to show how much she appreciated his effort. He tried to hold down his excitement but that had been the second time she'd done that in one evening. Smiling, he kissed her cheek in return and she _giggled? _Mike was watching her intensely, wondering if he'd heard that one right.

He was pretty sure he had but he had never even considered that Alex Eames could giggle.

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TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's chapter 2. Who'd have guessed that the oneshot 'Hopelessly Addicted' would lead to this. Not me! And I wrote it. But it seems these stories are flying out of mind, through my hands and onto the page faster than I imagined they would. I have no idea why but I'm not going to stop anytime soon so sit back and enjoy.

**One Small Step, One Giant Leap**

It had not escaped Mike's mind that Alex had still ordered one of the cheapest dishes on the menu, but then so had he. It wasn't because of the price, more to do with him being used to more simple foods. The cheaper the dish, the easier it sounded on the stomach. Pleased with himself that he'd actually managed to pull this one off so far.

And pleased with his partner for suggesting the restaurant in the first place. They'd eaten their dinner just talking about irrelevant gossip, cases they had been working on, and things that they liked to do in their spare time. Putting his fork down after taking a final bite of his fish, he looked at her as she'd already done the same thing.

"So, come on, tell me. Have you always wanted to be a cop?" He asked, curious about the answer.

"Yes." she replied with a smile. "I knew when I was 5 that I wanted to be a cop like my Dad."

Mike grinned, "A Daddy's Girl!" Alex nodded and copied his grin. "I'll bet your mom was just thrilled about that."

Alex shook her head negatively. "No, she said, and I quote, 'My little girl is not going to be like her father'." she did her best 'mom' impression. "But, of course, I did. My mom is very old fashioned - Men go out to save the world and women stay at home and look pretty!" She rolled her eyes, remembering how often her mother used to get frustrated with her for emulating her father.

"I can't imagine you doing that." He said to her with a small smile.

"What? Looking pretty?" she asked, trying to knock him off guard and be serious but the grin on her face gave her away.

Mike shot her a look, "No, you look pretty all the time, I meant staying at home."

"Good save." She congratulated him and pretended to wipe his brow.

"Phew!" She laughed wholeheartedly at that and he grinned at her. Not taking their eyes off each other she decided to find out if it was the same for him.

"So, did you always want to be a cop?"

Mike shook his head, taking a sip of the wine, "No, I actually wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid. Just like _my_ Dad."

"I can just see you in a pilots uniform." she told him _And it's a damn good image _she thought to herself. He laughed, "You'd be one of those flyboys who like to do acrobatics in the air to show off to women." twirling her finger around to show the movement the aircraft would make in the air. She had a knowing look on her face and he chuckled at the comment. "So what made you change your mind? Since, clearly, you never became a pilot."

"I guess I decided that I really wanted to catch the bad guys _and _prove everyone wrong." He replied with sincerity.

"Nobody thought you could do it?" Mike shook his head to answer her question mouthing the word 'no'. "Well, I guess you proved everyone wrong." Alex had a feeling Mike really wasn't referring to 'everyone' but she let it slide. She smiled at him and he seemed to take a moment to take her response in. Had he proven everyone wrong?

"Yeah." he whispered. "I guess I have." They met each others eyes and they remained locked in non-physical contact. It wasn't broken until the waiter came back to take their plates away as he had noticed that they had finished their meal.

"Excuse me? Is everything alright with your meal?" He asked and Alex slowly turned away from Mike and he did the same.

"Yes, thank you." Alex told him, suddenly thrown out of balance as she realised what the waiter had walked in on. She figured she was being silly since this was the kind of a place where the waiter would encounter that kind of thing every few minutes of his shift.

"Will you be requiring out dessert menu?" he asked, curteously.

Alex shook her head at Mike and then spoke to the waiter, "No, thank you." The waiter nodded and then looked at Mike.

"I will get you your bill, sir." He carried their plates away from the table, leaving after he bowed at them.

Mike turned to Alex with a grin, "See how he knows that I'm paying!" Alex laughed at him. She guessed that was because men were supposed to pay, especially at a place like this. "You don't want dessert?"

"I've got a better idea for that." She replied, shaking her head to confirm her response.

"Oh?" Mike raised his eyebrows suggestively, unable to suppress the grin forming on his face.

"It's not that! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

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It was a breezy evening, a dark night, a little chilly but that was to be expected in the autumn months. It wasn't as cold as it had been recently. Alex could survive with just a dress and coat, even though her legs had originally felt like they were going to fall off from the cold, she was now getting used to it.

"You're right, this is better." Said Mike, happily tucking into his ice cream. The one that they had bought from a nearby bodega. They were now walking along a relatively quiet street along the river. Alex smiled, this was a more comfortable setting and one that she was sure both were used to since being cops would've required them to walk around on patrol often having to eat whatever whilst they were out there before they became Detectives.

"I thought so." she told him, satisfied. She'd already finished hers and that was simply because she'd had a small one. Her argument being she was already cold, why add to it? But the ice cream wasn't the reason she'd pulled them away from the restaurant.

"And they say that Goren is the brains behind the team. They must be wrong." Mike told, finishing his ice cream as she laughed at the comment. Goren really was the brains but she liked it when people said otherwise, even if it was in jest. Her competitive streak of nature always came out when it seemed others were trying to stroke it.

They stopped walking and looked at each other... intensely. Facing one another, Mike put his hands on her waist and slowly pulled her into his arms. Holding him, she wrapped her arms around him, her hands resting on his shoulder blades at the back. Burying her face in his chest, she allowed herself this moment to warm up, once again sharing body heat and not just because they were cold.

Alex didn't want to let go, and Mike wasn't too keen on the idea either. But it occured to them that they should really walk back to the car and go home. Alex lifted up her face and pulled herself away from him and he did the same. But just as they were about to lose all physical contact, Mike brought both his hands up to cup her face. Gently, lifting her face to be with his, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. It was sweet, soft and so gentle that they were barely touching but it was enough to send ripples of excitement through her spine and if sparks of this kind were tangible and visible he was certain that they could have been seen from miles away. Alex lifted herself up a little to deepen the kiss, he responded in kind and put one hand in her hand. She lifted up her arms to wrap them around his neck, not wanting him to leave her mouth although she knew that eventually they were going to have to come up for air.

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His eyes seemed to be glued shut. _How the hell did that happen? _Whenever he thought he had managed to open them, a glare of light would blind him and his eyes would squeeze themseleves shut again. But even in his groggy state he could tell that not only was he in his living room sitting upright he was also fully clothed and for some reason he couldn't move. There was some kind of dead weight holding him down. He knew he had to open his eyes, he was afraid that somehow he'd been drugged and tied down by someone. _But who? _

Finally managing to open his eyes fully he realised that not only was it morning already but the dead weight on him was Alex who, like himself, had fallen to sleep and because she had been so close to him she was practically lying on him. Her head was on his chest and her legs had curled up next to her, but her left leg was resting on both of his. He noticed that she was still wearing the blue dress and she looked cold, which explained why she seemed to be curling into a ball almost lying on top of him, unconciously trying to get some warmth from him.

He was going to pull the afghan down from behind them and cover her up when he remembered that unlike him she had an on-going case that she needed to be at work for. He checked his watch and was thankful that it was still early but he still had to wake her up. It looked like she was a heavy sleeper. _How do I wake her up? _He decided to pull the afghan down anyway, since it's not like she could put anything else on even when she did wake up. As he covered her up, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a little shake. "Alex." He said, finding his voice but it was croaking from not speaking for quite a long time. She didn't budge and he hadn't expected her to. "Alex!" he managed to raise his voice level a little and she stirred. _Okay, this is working. _He repeated her name again, and he felt a flutter against his chest as he realised her eyes were opening. Her eye lashes brushing his chest, she pulled a hand up to wipe her eyes.

He repeated her name again and Alex managed to pull herself up away from him. A little difficult to do when they were sat deep into the sofa, tangled up with each other. "I... what...?" her voice was croaking more than his. She cleared her throat and looked at him with curiosity. "Did I fall to sleep?" she asked when she was confident she wouldn't sound like a toad.

Mike nodded, trying to hold back a yawn threatening to make its existence known, "We both did. It's morning."

Alex's eyes opened wide and the shock, in her groggy state, caused her to nearly jump off the sofa all together. She would've fallen if Mike hadn't had such a strong grip on her. "Oh..." she pulled a hand through her tangled hair and sighing when she realised the mess that it must look like. "Oh..." she looked at Mike, who was finding this side of Alex very interesting. "Is it late?" Mike shook his head and she visibly relaxed.

"I can drive you home so you can dress for work. Unless you plan on going like that?" Alex saw his amused expression and looked down at her clothes. Sighing, she shook her head to say no. She didn't manage to supress her yawn and she covered her mouth as best she could. "Okay, we need coffee!" Alex nodded in her agreement to that, nothing woke her up better than a decent cup of coffee. Alex pulled herself away from Mike so that he could stand up, he was about to head to the kitchen when Alex put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"I'll make the coffee. You go change so that you don't have to drive all the way back here after you drop me off." She reasoned, not allowing him a chance to argue she went into his kitchen. Mike shook his head in amusement and wandered off into his bedroom to change for work. Even though he'd slept on the sofa and that he was probably to have a crick in his neck for a few days, he felt like he'd just had the best night of his life.

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_So, what do you think?_


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